VIRGINIA, USA — A new bill that would require the placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in all Virginia public schools is one step closer to becoming a reality.
On Thursday, the Virginia Senate’s Education and Health subcommittee voted to move Senate Bill 1453 forward.
The bill, sponsored by Virginia Senator Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, passed the subcommittee unanimously.
McPike’s legislation would require every school board in the Commonwealth to develop a plan for the placement, care, and use of AED in its elementary and secondary schools.
While AEDs are required in public schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia, they are currently optional to have in Virginia campuses.
“This aids educators with lifesaving devices when needed during medical emergencies,” McPike posted to Facebook.
McPike’s legislation follows the sudden collapse of Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin during a regular season National Football League game in Cincinnati earlier this month. An AED was used to save Hamlin’s life.
Prior to Hamlin’s collapse, McPike had also sponsored and passed legislation that ultimately required all health clubs in Virginia to have an AED on their premises.
An AHA study showed in 2018 that survival from cardiac arrest doubled when a bystander stepped in to apply an automated external defibrillator (AED) before emergency responders arrived.
McPike previously told WUSA9 that every second in an emergency situation is significant toward keeping a person alive.
“We all know it’s a new year,” he said. “After New Year’s, we’re trying to get back into fitness and probably haven’t done it for quite a while. Sort of reengaging, restarting. Having that cardiac incident, we know that each minute that we don’t get an AED engaged in someone in a cardiac arrest, we lose between seven and ten percent survivability.”